Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p23b1632h&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P23B-1632
Physics
[5759] Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets / Rings And Dust, [6020] Planetary Sciences: Comets And Small Bodies / Ices, [6045] Planetary Sciences: Comets And Small Bodies / Physics And Chemistry Of Materials, [6265] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Planetary Rings
Scientific paper
Saturn’s dense main rings predominantly consist of 1-cm- to 10-m-sized almost pure water ice particles. Their dynamical behavior is dominated by two counteracting effects. On one hand gravitational perturbations of the ring particles’ motion by the planet or it's nearby moons increase the eccentricity of their orbits and thus the thickness of the rings. On the other hand frequent inelastic collisions of ring constituents at very low relative velocities (less than { ˜1 cm s-1}) yield in circularization of their orbital motion and thereby confine the ring thickness to less than 5 m.
In contrast, structures like kinks, jets and spirals in Saturn's thin F ring are expected to be the outcome of high-velocity collisions between ring particles and a population of embedded larger moonlets.
Unlike the numerous observational data obtained by spaceborne and ground-based methods, only very limited laboratory measurements exist on the collision properties of icy particles. Up to now, experiments have predominantly been restricted to quasi-two-dimensional collisions of large icy spheres. We have recently performed experimental investigations on collisions at velocities between {10 cm s-1} and a few {mm s-1} among solid and regolith-covered ice particles within an ensemble of 5-mm-, 10-mm- and 20-mm-sized ice spheres, respecitvely. These experiments were performed in the microgravity environment of the Bremen drop-tower facility, so that particle impacts could be studied in three dimensions and with arbitrary impact parameters.
In a second set of experiments we studied impacts of a 10-cm-sized solid ice sphere with a massive ice block of 80×30×50cm at a velocity of { ˜45 m s-1}. Both types of experiments were recorded by high-speed, high-resolution digital cameras, providing three-dimensional information about the collisions. We will present the results obtained for the coefficient of restitution as a measure of the energy loss in low-velocity binary collision of icy spheres within a particle ensemble. Furthermore we will report on the fragmetation behavior of large ice samples as observed in high-velocity impacts into a solid ice block.
Blum Jacques
Heißelmann Daniel
Spahn Frank
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